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sent by (output started at [ROOT]/includes/functions.php:3887)Strangeways • View topic - The Gig Review Thread

They are called "The World / Inferno Friendship Society"....I know that it is such a stupid name Their latest album is called "Red-Eyed Soul" and the best song (if I won't change my choice next week) is called "Only Anarchists Are Pretty".

Ooooh how exciting, i went to see Ash last night, which may not be to everyones taste but i used to love them sooo much a few years ago, the band of my school years so i was so pleased they were coming to play near me! It was an amazing gig, everyone got so into it and danced and it was just awesome. For anyone who knows of them, they did all the classic old ones that everyone loved like Walking Barefoot, Oh Yeah, Girl From Mars, Goldfinger and ah, it was just so great! a couple of, if i do say so myself, pretty awesome photos that i took :

I'm actually taking my good friend's daughter to the Shins concert next month. A chaperone/concert-with-a-friend of sorts. "Twist my arm, I'll be glad to drive you!" Can't believe I get to see them again once more.

I went to a Naked Lunch show on Friday. They started their tour in our town, as some kind of thank you for the support our little club has given them over the last ten years. I went there with my best friend. Of course we went there too early for I thought that the whole club would be crammed, but when we got there around 20:45 there were only a few people around. We got our tickets and sat down to drink some white wine and to have a conversation on the fall of the Roman Empire, male strippers and Austrian Government with just a bit of Mussolini. ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“Good morning StrangerÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â by Monta on the radio. She told me it reminded her of a western movie and I said that I feel like in some sad 60s French film. We imagined being at a costume party her dressed up as Marie Antoinette and me in a black suit. I told her that she was my Daisy. We served ourselves to some beer and I met my friend Chri at the bar. We went up to the stage to listen to the unbelievably exciting support band. They were called Laokoongruppe, well actually they were only one guy with a sampling machine, a keyboard, a saxophone and a big drum. He made great political dance music. Very smart and intellectual but danceable as hell. I asked her to waltz with me, but she was scared, because I told her that I couldnÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t waltz at all and that I wanted to perform ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“romantic sabotageÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â, so I danced my legs off to my knees on my own. I was actually the only one dancing like mad in the whole crowd. And when he dedicated his song ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“Rote MamaÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â to 70s Chancellor Bruno Kreisky (I want my fat red mummy back) it was over I couldnÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t help but love him. Bought his record and chatted a bit with him after the show. So we wanted to take a seat outside, but she got occupied by some guy we know. So my and Chri got ourselves some merch. Naked Lunch started quite soon afterwards with their beautiful set of heart expanding new songs and tear jerking old classics. I was so touched that we had to hug each other for a whole song when they played their orgasmic new single. I was halfway to bursting in tears I guess. A lot of love songs. I glared over to her standing by my side with her eyes wide open with excitement. Great songs, very hymns like. They were playing until 0:45, three encores. Pure and simple grandezza. I canÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t really describe their music for it is quite original. Bit psychedelic, long songs with ahh and ooh choirs and grand indie rock with electronic beatsÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦I donÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t know. Afterwards I told the bass player that I would have thrown gladioli on the stage if there were any around. He was quite pleased to here. We drank some beer listened to Chri and some other guys play some songs on the acoustic guitar outside and then we went home. I told her that I was very happy that she came with me, because I was told that a Naked Lunch show is something really sad if you go there alone. You should go there with somebody you love. I told her that she is the only person I love more then my own life, that my life isnÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t really worth a lot to me, but nonetheless it meant something great to me. ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“I love you, because we can be trivial together if we want to and we can be intelligent together if we want toÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“You mean we harmonizeÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yeah I guess. If you told me last year that I would meet somebody who harmonizes with me I would have spit in your face and jumped off a bridge, but nowÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â¦ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â I took her home in silence. When we got there she turned around and told me weÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢d meet again the other week. I donÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t know if she realized that I gripped her tighter when Oliver Welter sang ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å“I love my girl and I love my friends. I hope I die right in your arms then. I donÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t need an illusion, I donÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚Â¢t need anything.ÃƒÆ’Ã‚Â¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚Â¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â

My fortnight of dance music that rocks/rock music that you can dance to

Thursday 8th of March, The Rapture at Portsmouth Pyramid Centre

had a few drinks on the way to the gig, as everyone knows dancing when drunk is a lot more fun than when sober. Once we were in we traded a few glowsticks (poundland sell tubes of 30 for a quid in various colours with connectors, bargain) for a couple more pints, and then had a started warming up to the tunes over the soundsystem, blue monday twice = yes.

Support band came on, Scottish bunch Shitdisco, and they were by far the best support band I've ever seen, would definitely pay to see them play on their own, by the time they were finished, I was already pretty sweaty and my legs were getting tired, always a good sign

Then The Rapture came on and it stepped up a notch, absolutely amazing. House Of Jealous Lovers back to back with Whoo! Alright, Yeah...uh huh was incredible, as was the saxophone (!) solo in Get Myself Into it.

The next Thursday I went to see LCD Soundsystem at the London Astoria.

support were Prinzhorn Dance School, who were a little out of place perhaps, but good all the same, really simple, rhytmic stuff, with good lyrics, and a beautiful and talented female bassist, so they get points there.

But nothing compares to LCD Soundsystem, absolutely, utterly, breathtakingly, perfectly wonderful. Seriously. Best time I've ever had at a gig ever, played nearly all of the auld favourites, and the best of the new album too. Basically, it was radicool

just before Prinzhorn Dance School came on, with the afore mentioned T-Shirt for good measure

RockNCoke... The name already indicates it: the rock festival is sponsored by Coca-Cola. Reason enough for some to boycott it, reason enough for me to fancy it: rock and coca-cola, two of my biggest addictions combined. When one of my favourite bands, the Manic Street Preachers, was confirmed in the line-up, I could no longer resist and decided to buy a ticket. The presence of Pentagram in the line-up the same day was a nice extra. With Within Temptation and the Smashing Pumpkins (and Turkish rock singer/eye candy Aslı) the first day of the festival it was even tempting to buy a two-days ticket, but financial reasons prompted me to stick with a day ticket for Sunday 2nd September, the day that the mighty Manics would hit the stage.

Istanbul is a gigantic city and every district has the size of a proper city in my native Belgium. When one says there are special busses to the concert area leaving from Kadikoy, this does not say much really because Kadikoy is a very big area. I asked a few people near the docks and bus stops if they knew where to find the special busses, but the few who knew did not speak English and those who spoke a little English did not know. Add to that a political event and speech next to the bus stops and the chaotic traffic also did not really predict too much nice.

Luckily my eye fell on a man wearing a shirt displaying the "God is dead" quote by Nietzsche. A Turk wearing such a t-shirt just had to be a rock'n'roll fan, I figured. Good bet! The man was indeed waiting for the same bus to the festival, and I had the luck he spoke English! He started asking around for the bus and I just followed him. We had to walk quite a distance but approx 1 hour and a lot of contradicting information later, we found the bus we were looking for. Ready to go, and 1 hour later we arrived safe and sound at the festival venue! (1 hour yes... and this is without having left Istanbul soil!)

The festival ground was a typical festival environment with a main stage and a smaller stage surrounded by a camping (for those going the full weekend) and a large grassfield for the audience. Also present was an internet cafe, a small lunapark, a gaming hall, lot of small restaurants and drinking spots, and (very convenient for the time in between the gigs) a hall full of giant pillows and sleeping bags. You could even lay down and hear the concerts as they were quite close to the stage, but of course I wanted to hear and SEE the Manic Street Preachers so I opted for a place close to the stage.

The first unpleasant surprise was that, due to the chaotic traffic (politics really are a pain sometimes!) the bus was delayed and Pentagram had already started their gig when I arrived at the venue. Too bad because although I went mainly for the Manics, I did fancy seeing Pentagram as well. I already saw their 20th anniversary concert in Istanbul 1.5 month ago and they were really good then. Pentagram is a legend in the Turkish music scene as they were the first Turkish metal band to achieve mainstream success. They are considered one of the pioneers of the "oriental metal" genre along with Israeli doom-metal band Salem. Oriental Metal is combining metal music with Middle Eastern folk influences. Pentagram were the first Turkish metal band that became a success and they have been a succesful ensemble for over 20 years now.

Too bad I only saw half of the gig now and missed "1000 In The Eastlands". With "Bir" and "Lions in the Cage" I luckily heard two other of the Turkish metal pioneers' classics. For some unknown reason they did not play "Anatolia". I was happy enough to have heard "Bir" live. As the title suggests (Bir is One in Turkish) it is a song about god/Allah and tells not to have fear in life because everything comes from the one Creator. The chorus sings "All is one, all comes from One God" while heavy guitars and pounding drums create an excellent headbanging atmosphere. Muslim Metal if you wish, although the song is more or less saying there is just one god and we are all coming from the same creator regardless of our religion. One interpretation of the song is that religion is not needed but that we should just recognise the one Creator in our own way. During the 20th anniversary gig, when this song was sung, the screens displayed elements of all main religions and not just Islam.

But I was unlucky to only see half the gig. Because of this, the Manics concert would more or less make this a concert experience rather than a festival with several gigs. Not a problem for me because I am not much of a festival fan myself, so I was happy enough to see the Manics shortly after arriving without having a long wait.

For those who don't know the Manic Street Preachers, here is a short self-written biography:

Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh indie rock band that have risen to stardom in the early nineties. Never shy of controversy, the band has reached its fame in a rather controversial way.

Formed by 4 friends from the small town of Blackpool, the Manics constituted out of James Dean Bradfield (vocals), Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards James, and Sean Moore. The band wrote lots of letters to music magazines criticising other artists, and that way drew attention from the press. Controversial statements during interviews and a glam look drew even more attention to the Welsh quartet and without having shown a lot of musical skills the band had already acquired some fame. The band made the controversial statement they would record one album, sell millions of copies and then retire. That first album was a double CD named "Generation Terrorists" and contained a few hits including the epic "Motorcycle Emptiness". The album also contained a song "Little Baby Nothing" featuring guest vocals by porn actress Tracy Lords ; the song is about how women stand strong in a society dominated by males, and the band figured Lords perfectly matched that image.

The band did not stick with its earlier statements (and the album did not sell the desired number of copies, even though it did do well in the charts) and went on to record more albums. Their peek of creativity was the epic extremely dark album "The Holy Bible" which featured a lot of songs about mental decay and society's decay. Also, like usual, the band had a strong political undertone with a strong socialist point of view that can be retrieved in several Manics songs.

By the time that The Holy Bible was released, the mental problems of Richey Edwards had reached their peek. Richey was already before showing signs of unstability when during the earliest Manics days he carved "4 Real" into his arm with a razorblade to show interviewer Steve Lamacq that the band was seriously intending their political idealism and social statements. Richey had become more and more unstable and anorexia, depression and self-mutilation were part of his life. This also reflected in several Manics songs, and on The Holy Bible several songs were about emotional problems and decay. For example the song "Faster" described automutilation with "I am an architect, they call me a butcher" (describing the act of carving with a knife into one's body) while in the song "4st. 7lbs." the band sings about anorexia nervosa with the sentence "I want to walk in the snow and not leave a footprint/I want to walk in the snow and not soil it's purity".

In 1995 the band would leave for the USA for promotional reasons. The night before departure, Richey checked out of his London hotel and left for Cardiff. He would never be seen again, and after all those years it is still a mystery what has happened. Richey had been missing now for over 12 years. His car was later found never Severn Bridge (a famous British suicide spot) and his most important posessions were removed out of his apartment. Did Richey commit suicide, or did he just disappear to start a new life elsewhere? The mystery remains unsolved to date.

The band went on hiatus for about half a year but then decided to go on as a threepiece (with the explicit permission of Richey's family). The album "Everything must go" (a reference to Richey ?) was the last album containing songs written by Edwards, and the album saw the Manics score a hit with a song that would become a signature tune of them: "A Design for Life", a song about how we took centuries to gain the knowledge we have now, but how we do very little useful with it.

"Libraries gave us powerThen work came and made us freeWhat price now for a shallow piece of dignity I wish I had a bottleRight here in my dirty faceTo wear the scarsTo show from where I came

We don't talk about loveWe only want to get drunkAnd we are not allowed to spendAs we are told that this is the endA design for life..."

The band changed their sound and looks a bit when Edwards was gone, and the psychedelic rough sound of the early Manics days was replaced by a more standard rock sound. The political undertone of the songs remained untouched though, as proved the single "The Masses Against The Classes" which is a sort of communist/socialist anthem:

"Hello it's us againWe're still so in love with youAnd yes we mean it tooYes we're so in love with youHello it's us againYou thought you were our friendsSuccess is an ugly wordEspecially in your tiny world

The masses against the classesI'm tired of giving a reasonWhen the future is what we believe inWe love the winterIt brings us closer together

So can you hurt us anymore Can you feel like it was beforeOr are you lost forever moreMessed up and dead on alcoholHello fond farewell my dearsI hope you hear this nice and clearOur love is unconditionalOur hate is yours to feed upon

The masses against the classesI'm tired of giving a reasonWhen the future is what we believe inWe love the winterIt brings us closer together

The masses against the classesI'm tired of giving a reasonWhen we're the only thing left to believe inWe love the winterIt brings us closer together"

The band had by then not only gained a reputation of very political band but also showed their intellectualism. The band has a lot of songs where a reference to a certain event or person is hidden behind almost half of the sentences in the song, while they also have a lot of songs containing statements or quotes by famous artists, politicians and other people. This makes Manics songs quite hard and difficult to analyse, but it can be very interesting to try and dissect and analyse a Manic Street Preachers song.

The band's first album without any content written by Richey was their commercial peek "This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours" which featured the epic "If You Tolerate This, Your Children Will Be Next" about the Spanish civil war (containing a quote from a Welsh farmer who voluntarely fought in the war: "If I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists"). Also, "Tsunami", "You Stole The Sun From My Heart" and "The Everlasting" became minor hits.

The band also gained fame when they became the first British band to perform live in Cuba. Their socialist image had helped them gain fame on the communist island and even leader Fidel Castro attended the concert! A DVD of that gig was released later on.

The Manics released their new album "Know Your Enemy" and afterwards a compilation album "Forever delayed", a B-sides collection and a DVD containing all videos followed. This stage of their career was concluded with the release of the album "Lifeblood". After the tour promoting Lifeblood, the band went on hiatus for approx. two years, allowing both Bradfield and Wire to record and release a solo album meanwhile. In 2007 the band returned united and good as ever with their latest studio album "Send Away The Tigers". The song "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" (a duet with Cardigans vocalist Nina Persson) got a lot of airplay and the band toured again internationally to promote this record.

Although missing for over 12 years now, still 25% of all profits are donated to a special funds for Richey ; money he can withdraw should he ever return. This shows that the Manics are not just a band but also a close group of friends who have been best friends long before they rose to stardom.

So far the brief introduction. Now let's move on to the concert. Shortly before the gig I made my one mistake of the evening. Rather than paying your food you had to buy a card worth a certain amount of money and you used that card at all food stands. I wanted to buy a card worth 20 Lira but when I gave a 50 Lira note the staffmember did not understand me too well and thought I wanted to have a 50 Lira card. I did not know how to explain in proper Turkish that I wanted a 20 Lira card, so the misunderstanding saw me ending up with a card worth 50 Lira. Bit a loss of money and because two portions of chips and three coca-colas did of course not even use half of the value of the card, I bought a festival T-shirt as souvenir purely to have used most of the credit on the card. Oh well, that way I have a souvenir so it's not that bad.

Having consumed my chips and coca-cola, I was ready for the gig. It was just before 9.00pm when the Manics hit the stage. They opened with one of their oldest songs: "You love us" from the very first album. The second song in the list was "Everything Must Go" which sounded even better than on record as it got some extra bombast during the concert yesterday.

It was clear that the band was in good shape and James' vocals were as pure as ever. The band decided to make their first Turkish concert ever a promotion of not just their latest record but their whole discography. As a result their concert sounded a bit like a "greatest hits" summary with a lot of older songs in the setlist. They even played several songs of the very first album "Generation Terrorists" which dates from 1991 (the album that would sell millions of copies before they would break up ).

Of course a few songs from the new album were played, including their comeback hit "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough". The female vocals were done by James as well rather than having them on a tape. This meant the version sounded entirely different from the album version, with James singing the whole song rather than having two different voices. The same was done for "Little Baby Nothing" (another track from the very first album) where James also did the part that was sung by Tracy Lords on the album version.

The setlist moved on and the band was in great shape. Nicky Wire was jumping and running across the stage as usual but also James was full of energy and moving around constantly. Apart from the three Manics themselves, two other musicians (one extra guitarist and in fact the de facto replacement of missing band member Richey, and one keyboard player) completed the stage line-up.

The band played a lot of classics from the early stages of their career so the setlist included songs such as Motorcycle Emptiness, La Tristesse Durera, Motown Junk, Faster (dedicated to Richey Edwards for the well known reasons), Australia, You Stole The Sun From My Heart, If You Tolerate This...

From more recent career stages the band played Ocean Spray (written for James' late mother), Your Love Alone... and a few other tracks from the most recent album. Especially "Autumn Song" sounded fantastic and pleased me a lot, it was even one of the highlights of the evening. But in general, the new album "Send Away The Tigers" was not promoted a lot and the band opted for a collection of their best known songs during their first ever gig in Turkey.

The gig was concluded after approx 75 minutes with the "Welsh anthem" (dixit James Dean Bradfield) "A Design For Life". Or as I would say (loving that song a lot): saving the best for last.

In general I must say the concert was very satisfying and my high expectations were met without any problems. Just like during my first Manics gig, three years ago in Dublin, the band made it a very nice evening. The only songs that I missed in the setlist were Tsunami and especially the always energetic The Masses Against The Classes. Guess they had to somewhat cut their setlist short due to the fact that it was a festival and then a band has limited time on the stage. But apart from those two songs I'd love to have heard, my personal favourites were present, and the new songs sounded very good. So very satisfying gig in general. Veni vidi veci!

The final act of the evening was Scottish sensation Franz Ferdinant. On record they leave me rather indifferent but I heard they are so good live that even non-fans are convinced usually. So out of curiosity I searched a spot near the stage for their set.

Unfortunately I cannot say I am convinced and turned into a fan. The band played their songs well and I am sure FF fans will have had a great night. But the music just is not really my cup of tea. I recognised several songs and they were played as good as on record, but it just does not really do it to me. It is definitely not bad music, but it also does not move me like the Manics do. Halfway the concert I decided to relax a bit and try the sleeping bags, so I heard the rest of the concert laying down and relaxing a bit.

A 40 minutes drive per special bus took me back to Kadikoy afterwards. All in all a very nice night. OK, Franz Ferdinand did not really do it to me and it is a shame to have missed half of Pentagram's concert. But the Manics were outstanding as usual so the most important goal was met! Now on to Friday when Tool are performing in Kurucesme Arena on the edge of the Bosphorus (probably the only concert venue in the world where you can see a different continent from the stands)

Sorry for being almost a week late with this concert review (the gig was at 7th September) but I am a busy man

Last Friday my daily routine was broken for another day with the second concert in a week's time. After the very good Manic Street Preachers concert of last week, this time it was Tool who visited Istanbul. I am a big fan of A Perfect Circle myself, who share the same vocalist with Tool: Maynard James Keenan. Because of Maynard, I gave Tool a try as well a while ago and have become a bit of a fan as well.

Tool is not the easiest band to get into. Tool are like a puzzle: complex and difficult to grasp, but once the puzzle is complete you see something very beautiful. Tool songs are often very long (their epic "Wings for Marie", my favourite Tool song, lasts 18 minutes in total!) and full of long instrumental pieces and very complex changes of rhythm and tempo. This means Tool songs often sound like several songs pasted together. Unlike A Perfect Circle, there is often no recognisable chord repeated throughout the song, Tool songs are far more complex and therefor it takes several times of listening before you really get adapted to a song. But somehow I like that complexity, it forces the listener to think and concentrate and that is something I like. Tool are a very dark band as well, while A Perfect Circle are more ethereal and mysterious but more accessible. Both share one thing: the beautiful voice and poetic lyrics by charismatic frontman Maynard James Keenan.

Beautiful is also the perfect word to describe the concert venue: Kurucesme Arena is located right on the boards of the Bosphorus. The sea is just next to the stage and crowd and in the distance you can see the Asian part of the city. The only concert venue in the world where you can see a different continent?? The perfect decor for a magical evening. A set of firewords above the sea shortly before the concert set the atmosphere perfectly.

Then, with half an hour delay, Tool came onstage. The band started off with Jambi and then immediately did one of my personal favourites: Stinkfist. The sound was excellent from the start and Tool, known to be perfectionists, were in excellent shape. As usual, Maynard (who kept his shirt on for once!), was doing some very bizarre dances on stage during the instrumental parts. Danny Carey's drumming was perfect as if it was a computer or machine, very impressive. The start of the concert was very promising. The one downside was something beyond control of the band: Maynard's vocals were not always clearly hearable because the guitars and drums were displayed too loud and the vocals could not always reach above the riffs.

Apart from that the concert moved on smoothly with songs such as Rosetta Stoned and Schism. Maynard was using the instrumental parts to consume over 1 bottle of wine. "This is the last show of the tour, I hope you don't mind us celebrating" he said, and the next thing he carried around a bottle of wine in a bottleholder attached to his pants, a bottle which he emptied completely during the show! Maynard, who owns his own vineyard, may have been a bit too drunk afterwards to remember much of this show

As usual, Tool also pay attention to the visual aspects. On the screens behind them, either artworks, light effects or fragments from the music videos (you know, the eerie videos where aliens do weird things) were displayed.

The band disappeared off stage for a short while, then to come back for the encores. During their time off-stage, a very annoying recorded electronic sound was displayed, so the return of the band was a welcome relief. Especially since the encores featured two highlights of the show: an impressive live version of "Flood" (one of the darkest and eeriest intros I ever heard!) and as last song an always welcomed "Aenima". During the encores, a laser show was done.

All in all a very fine concert although a few remarks must be made: Maynard's vocals were difficult to be heard because the sound staff had not raised the sound level of the microphone (the band sounded very heavy and loud but Maynard's voice hardly got above the very loud guitars and drums), long songs are typically Tool but sometimes the intros were lengthened and just a tiny bit TOO long, and most of all I missed the brilliant and very emotional 18 minutes song "Wings for Marie" in the setlist. Also, "Sober" and "The Pot" were not sung, which was a pity, but mainly hearing "Wings for Marie" in this magical decor by the sea would have made the evening extra special.

All in all I am satisfied, and I hope to see Maynard live again soon, but this time with A Perfect Circle. Idle hope maybe, but still... As good and perfectionist Tool may be, I remain an A Perfect Circle fan above all, and I hope after a 1.5 years of touring with Tool, Maynard can maybe find the time to reunite APC even if it were just for a short tour. Idle hopes maybe, but you never know...

A t-shirt remains my touchable souvenir of the pleasant evening by the Bosphorus.

The concert I've been patiently anticipating for a couple of years now.

BRITISH SEA POWERMonday, February 25, 2008Scott and I were the first in line, so he made small quips about the lack of people in line and getting there early. It was exciting hearing the sound check from the line. Lights out for Darker Skies was the only song being played in parts over and over. Hamilton even stole a what appeared like a very private moment with Abi outside for a smoke not far from us. Some people passed right by them not knowing who he was. I probably do hold musicians too high I suppose. Why would anyone necessarily care? But obviously it describes how excited I was that night.

I was actually worried about a low turnout because the show was on a Monday, no advertising whatsoever except in a small local entertainment paper showing the venue and groups playing. No radio website mention, despite my emails (and come to find out a local DJ did attend, so maybe this is promising.) No street team kit (I had signed up for this to help out. Problem due to the label I was told.) There were 2 opening bands, so by the time they came on it was midnight.

I caught Yan at the bar early when they first let everyone in and got the elusive missing signature to the liner notes booklet. He said it still felt like 5 a.m. when I asked about their flight. CAN I JUST ADD here now that I couldn't stop shaking inside and his accent made me melt. Just yummier in person. I doubt I'll ever have that feeling again.

Though the venue was small, Martin took time to tape the flags up on the stage. The crowd recognized a lot of the old songs. There was only a small interaction between the band and crowd and some technical mishaps, but they seemed genuinely happy with performing. Naturally I was up front after I had to give up my good spot on a barstool when people made their way to the very front.

Phil, their fill in player was very impressive, with the keyboards and trumpet--- at the same time! And he went wild! Abi played keyboards to a song I CANNOT remember right now! I heard a loop of the church bells from 'Pelican' being played between certain songs throughout the gig. (Abi toured with Bat for Lashes as their violinist.) The crowd was wild enough by the end that Martin allowed himself to be carried out by the crowd! Yan and Hamilton were pulling their guitars and mic stands every which way.

They lived up to everything I've read and seen about the band on the internet. They were awesome. I really wish them a lot of success with this album. Plus they'll be on Letterman soon, which will be a boost for their exposure. I have a feeling this is their make or break album.

I took some pics, but they were mostly crappy.Colourmusic put on a great show as well.